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United States Patent | 5,607,026 |
Rioux ,   et al. | March 4, 1997 |
In a snowmobile drive train the variable ratio belt drive is not directly coupled to the engine crankshaft as in the prior art, but rather the driving pulley of the variable ratio belt drive is carried on one end of a jackshaft and the engine power is applied to the opposite end of the jackshaft. The jackshaft is supported in a fixed bearing in the vehicle frame, this bearing being immediately adjacent to the driving pulley so that the influence on the belt drive of vibrations generated by the engine is vastly diminished. Therefore the engine mounts can be arranged to fully absorb vibrations of the engine. Previously, when the driving pulley was directly coupled to the engine crankshaft it was necessary to include a tie restraint to limit movements of the engine housing in the direction of separation between the axes of the driving and driven pulleys.
Inventors: | Rioux; Roger (Magog, CA); Pesant; Gilles (Magog, CA); Bostelmann; Willy (Gunskirchen, AT); Talbot; Jean-Guy (Valcourt, CA); Fecteau; Berthold (Richmond, CA); Cote; Raymond (Richmond, CA); Gagne; Yvon (Valcourt, CA) |
Assignee: | Bombardier Inc. (CA) |
Appl. No.: | 426918 |
Filed: | April 21, 1995 |
Current U.S. Class: | 180/190; 180/376 |
Intern'l Class: | B62M 027/02 |
Field of Search: | 180/182,186,190,191,193,376 |
3963083 | Jun., 1976 | Reese | 180/190. |
3985192 | Oct., 1976 | Samuelson et al. | 180/190. |
4069882 | Jan., 1978 | Leonard et al. | 180/190. |
4362524 | Dec., 1982 | Lob et al. | 180/190. |
5152255 | Oct., 1992 | Fukuda | 180/190. |
Foreign Patent Documents | |||
953537 | Aug., 1974 | CA. |